LECTURE III.

TOPICS TO BE CONSIDERED.-A CONVICTION OF ITS IMPORTANCE REQUISITE TO THE ATTAINMENT OF A GOOD ELOCUTION.

Though Eloquence is much more extensive in meaning than Elocution or Delivery, the purpose of the following Lectures does not require me to preserve with much exactness, the distinction of these terms. I design, in these Lectures, to exhibit some principles appertaining to the art of public speaking,which principles are preparatory to practical exercises in this art. In executing this design, I shall have occasion to take notice with more or less particularity, of the following points; -The importance of a good Elocution; Necesity of earnestness; Causes which influence the intellectual and moral habits; -Influence of personal piety on the eloquence of the preacher;-Obstacles to the cultivation of eloquence ;-Characteristics of our age and country favorable to it; and the utility of preparatory practice in elocution. I shall also offer some remarks on voice, and on the perfection and preservation of the vocal organs.

A primary requisite to the attainment of a good elocution, is A DEEP CONVICTION OF ITS IMPORTANCE.

Euripides styled eloquence την τυραννον ανθρώποις μόνην, the only queen among men. First, by a cursory glance at the effects of secular eloquence, in different periods, we may be satisfied how far this position is justifiable.

Of Pericles, it is said, that "the goddess of persuasion dwelt on his lips." Such was the force of his eloquence, that he

"moulded the Athenians into what shape he pleased, and presided with unlimited authority in all their assemblies." This he did, not through a momentary effervescence of popular favor; but for forty years, during which time, the most powerful men in Athens were unable to shake the influence, which resulted from his individual weight of character.

Even Cicero, with his profusion of words, seems at a loss how to describe the effects produced by the ancient orators. He says "they were vehement as the tempest, irresistible as the torrent, awful as thunder. The rapid flood of their eloquence rolled on, overwhelming, and bearing away every thing in its course." Facts justify this representation. Look at the influence of Demosthenes when Philip invaded Greece. A consummate general comes, with a powerful army, trained to high achievements, and accustomed to victory ;-comes to attack a people once mighty, indeed, but now sunken in effeminacy; devoted to trivial amusements; enfeebled and dispirited by internal factions. Surely all is lost. No-the voice of one man calls on Greece to awake; calls in loud tones of remonstrance and indignation; summons from the grave, the ancient defenders of her liberty, to witness the shame of their degenerate sons. Greece awakes, listens, rushes to arms; her effeminate citizens become men and veterans; her intrepid legions pour on the hosts of Macedon, and rescue their country from impending ruin.

Cæsar arraigns Ligarius for trial. The most inveterate of all passions, revenge, demands the sacrifice of the illustrious victim; and the hope of his escape is diminished by the fact, that the acknowledgment of his innocence, must imply the guilt of his judge. How can Ligarius be acquitted, when his life depends on the clemency of one who has waded to empire through the blood of his countrymen; and the permanence of whose power, requires the extermination of those who have dared to oppose it? Cæsar ascends the tribunal, not to be guided by the dictates of equity, but to cover his purpose with the forms of law for the decree of death is already made out. The trial proceeds. The prince of Roman orators stands up the advo

cate of the accused. The judge listens to the fervid appeals of argument and eloquence; he is convinced, warmed, melted, turns pale, trembles, drops from his hand the fatal decree,forgives.

Is it in the power of eloquence when employed in the common affairs of this world, thus to break through the barriers of prejudice, of passion, of interest; thus to seize and subdue the heart; to confound the purposes, and control the actions of men and can it then in the second place, be deemed a useless attainment to the Christian preacher? "If profane men in profane causes, require skill in an orator, how much more is it to be required in sacred affairs." If our estate or life were suspended on a judicial trial, who of us would not wish for an eloquent man as our advocate? Why then, if the soul of our brother, sister, or child, is to be rescued from eternal death, should we not wish the motives of the Gospel to be addressed to them by a powerful and persuasive eloquence? The debate which involves the interests of a country, or which, in any considerable degree, involves the property or reputation of an individual, we expect will awaken all the energy of the senator or pleader. Is he then, who is to treat the most elevated and awful subjects, which the universe can furnish, the only man in whom indifference can be tolerated? Is he, by whom (in the proper discharge of his office,)

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-"the violated law speaks out

Its thunders; and by whom, in strains as sweet "As angels use, the gospel whispers peace;—

is he the only man, who can be excused in slumbering, and compelling others to slumber, over his subject? The ambition of Philip, the treason of Cataline, the usurpation of Cæsar, called forth strains of eloquence which have been the admiration of succeeding ages. Yet these subjects were trifles, fit only for the prattle of children, compared with the joyful and dreadful themes that employ the preacher's tongue.

If any one doubts that religion affords scope for the highest efforts of eloquence, let him look at the preaching of Paul; let him look at the effects produced by the elegant and animated discourses of Chrysostom. At a later period, let him see Peter the Hermit return from the holy land, and raise the voice of expostulation and entreaty, that the Savior's tomb might be rescued from the profanation of infidels. He called, and Europe was roused; he sighed, and the flame of zeal kindled from heart to heart, through Christendom. At the pointing of his finger, eight hundred thousand warriors enlisted in the enterprise, and marched under the banner of the cross. This fact demonstrates that religion, even when obscured by superstition, and perverted by false zeal, furnishes materials for the most energetic and efficacious appeals to the human heart.

When Massillon entered the pulpit, not the pious and the sober merely, but the votaries of pleasure and business thronged the church. "The theatre was forsaken, the court forgot their amusements, and the monarch descended from his throne," to hear the illustrious preacher. "While he spoke, the king trembled ; while he denounced the indignation of God against a corrupted court, nobility shrunk into nothing; while he described the terrors of a judgment to come, infidelity turned pale; and the congregation, unable to resist the power of his language, rose from their seats in agony."

Look at Whitefield, surrounded by an assembly which no church in Christendom could contain. Twenty thousand auditors hang on his lips, while every ear is open, every eye is fixed, every bosom swells with tender emotion, or throbs with anguish. What is this irresistible power, which holds these hearers, now in breathless awe; then hurries them away with the strong impulse of pity, remorse, or terror; which alternately dazzles, strikes, soothes, alarms, agitates the soul? You say the force of truth produced these effects. But whence the utter insensibility, with which the same men could often hear the same truths, from the lips of preachers, equal perhaps in piety, and superior certainly in learning, to Whitefield? Alas!

learning and even piety may occupy the pulpit, and yet the hearers be cold, because the preacher is so. But the glowing sensibility of Whitefield's heart, gave a warmth and weight to his words, which opened an instant passage to the hearts of others. Whoever saw him in the pulpit, saw an eloquent man. His tones, his eye, his action, spoke the fervid emotion of his soul; spoke with an energy which compelled insensibility to listen, and obduracy to feel. Surely the preacher who exhibits the truths of the Gospel, so as to inspire a crowd of immortal beings with awful and universal interest, puts to rest forever the question, whether eloquence is important or not, in the pulpit.

If such were all preachers, the form of our sacred eloquence would no more be subject to the reproach, that "the pulse at her heart, beats languidly; and her pale lip attests that no seraph has touched it with a live coal from off the altar."

To the Christian minister, the motives to cultivate the power of speaking, are all substantially combined in one, viz. it is directly subservient to his main purpose as a religious teacher. It must, therefore, be to him preeminently important.

That he is most likely to attain a good elocution, other things being equal, who is most convinced of its importance, is confirmed by all experience. The first among ancient orators to whom I recently alluded, became such, not by birth, nor by accident. At the age of sixteen, having felt the power and witnessed the effects of a splendid effort at the bar, he resolved with the ardor of enthusiasm to devote himself wholly to the study of eloquence. He saw that this was the high road to influence among his countrymen. Though the defects of his organs and utterance were such, that the fire of his genius was repeatedly stifled by the hisses of his auditors, the flame was rekindled to burn with a growing intensity. With a steadfastness that nothing could shake, he advanced towards his object. Greece collected in crowds, when he was to speak; and the proud invader of his country paid him the high tribute of saying, "I dread the eloquence of that man, more than all the fleets and armies of